Holden to crank up shifts in Adelaide

Car maker Holden says business is picking up and its Adelaide vehicle operations will crank up again with the return of a second shift from November.

Holden to crank up shifts in Adelaide

27 June 2010

Car maker Holden says business is picking up and its Adelaide vehicle operations will crank up again with the return of a second shift from November.

Holden Manufacturing Operations executive director Martyn Cray said Holden was pleased to confirm the end of the temporary single shift arrangement that had been imposed due to the global financial crisis.

"The last 18 months have been very tough for our industry, but bringing back a second shift and returning employees to full-time work is an important step in rebuilding our manufacturing business," he said in a statement on Monday.

"There is already a huge amount of work going on at the plant including equipment installation and the building of pilot vehicles for our new locally built Cruze.

"We are also gearing up for the new Series II Commodore which will be launched in the coming months."

Holden introduced the single shift in April last year as demand for Holden export volume slumped due to the global financial crisis.

Under the reduced shift pattern employees would alternate work ranging from one week on, one week off, to one week off in twelve.

Support from everyone had allowed Holden to rebuild the business and be sustainable for the long term, Mr Cray said.

The second shift will return all employees who remain on alternating working patterns back to full-time employment in November.

Holden also anticipates hiring a small number of employees to support the second shift in the short-term with the potential to increase employment further when demand significantly increases in the longer term.